Patriotism And Protest: Jazz For July 4

Louis Armstrong spoke out against the federal government regarding racial issues, but happily played the National Anthem at Newport in 1960.

Written by Patrick Jarenwattananon from NPR

Jazz music has become a point of pride for the United States of America: a homegrown art form forged from folk traditions. But there isn’t an abundance of jazz recordings of American patriotic songs. One suspects that because many of jazz’s foremost creators were black Americans who lived in a society which actively discriminated against them, it hasn’t exactly occurred to many to tackle that material.

There are, of course, some exceptions, and some exceptions that prove the rule. For July 4, here are a few jazz takes on the songs you’ll hear today.